The greatest meteorological distinction of Friday in Washington may have been how relatively bland it was, and how little it seemed to hint at the coming cataclysms suggested by forecasts.
Whatever could be read into Friday and the frequent gray of its skies, it seemed difficult for the casual onlooker to discern a message of snow and ice, sleet, cold and freezing rain.
Friday left no doubt that it was winter. It was a chilly, often cloudy day in the latter part of January, but it was still a little warmer than normal. The elements of deep winter lurked about, but did not seem ready to close the deal.
The 48-degree high temperature as of late afternoon produced a sensation of chill. But it was winter, after all, and actually three degrees above the normal high in D.C. of 45 degrees for Jan. 23.
Gray clouds gathered in profusion as they so often do in wintertime. But in a subjective sense at least, little about their shapes or shades seemed to give obvious cause for apprehension to those not clued in.
The sun, which often removes the edge from a winter’s day, seemed subdued. Yet significant glimpses of a soft-seeming blue sky could also be obtained.
In that sky, the sun did often seem on the verge of pushing through the gray veil overhead, and sometimes it did.
Occasionally, whether Friday was sunny or cloudy depended on minute-by-minute changes. It was almost bright at one moment, then cloudy again, the next.
By late afternoon, however, the rays of the setting sun became increasingly visible. Dark streaks of cloud remained sufficient, however, to set off the orange fire in the west as the sun descended.
Sunsets so often may be regarded as symbols of finality, of what one day has seen, or what the next day will see.
But Friday’s sunset, although it had its moments of glowing brilliance, seemed without any obvious message, not even to those already aware of the storm that was likely to come.
In late afternoon, in at least some places, white clouds showed up high against a blue backdrop. They seemed distant and somehow cold.
One seemed shaped like an icicle, others like distant crystals of frost of the sort seen on winter window panes.
Possibly, they suggested the existence of realms far colder than those experienced in Washington so far this January.
But without having knowledge of the weather warnings, it seemed difficult to reconcile Friday with the implacable ominousness of a vast storm forming just beyond the region’s farthest frontiers.
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